


eye contact

by amybri2002



Series: soulmate september [10]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Human AU, M/M, Soulmate AU, janus has trust issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:40:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26393533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amybri2002/pseuds/amybri2002
Summary: Janus is used to getting weird looks, due to the unusual soulmark on his face. What he isn’t used to, however, is prolonged eye contact.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Series: soulmate september [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905379
Comments: 10
Kudos: 219





	eye contact

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: you are born with a birthmark, similar to a tattoo, that is shared by your soulmate.

Janus was used to getting weird looks. He was used to people being afraid of him, avoiding him, sometimes pitying him but that one was rarer. That wasn’t unusual for people like Janus - those with the soulmarks on their face, displayed for all the world to see. The fact that his looked like scales though wasn’t great for his case - he, as many people had said, looked like a literal monster, enough to strike fear into any child’s heart. Plus his heterochromia only tended to make things worse.

So he was used to weird looks. What he wasn’t used was prolonged eye contact. Usually his weird looks consisted of a single glance, a brief look of disgust, before they averted their eyes, tuning him out, ignoring him, avoiding direct eye contact. So when he found someone staring at him from the other side of the park, unable to tear his eyes away, it makes sense that he began to freak out.

What was this guys problem? If he had something to say to Janus, he might as well have just said it, put him out of his misery already. Janus had already heard it all, one more insult wasn’t going to break him, and yet...

To be fair, the man looked harmless, and wasn’t looking at Janus with disgust, either. He couldn’t quite decipher his expression, but it wasn’t the same look he usually got from people his age. It was as if he could understand Janus’ pain.

Janus found himself staring back, staring hard. Perhaps to make him more uncomfortable, to urge him to look away, or maybe he just wanted to look. The man wore heavy foundation, almost pure white, with dark eyeshadow drawn on under his eyes, and purple lipstick. His sense of style was... questionable, not many people wore huge hoodies in this weather, and not many people were that confident to walk around with ripped shirts and jeans all the time, but then again Janus wasn’t one to talk, opting to wear full three-piece suits and a bowler hat even when he wasn’t working, often feeling like he’d walked straight out of the 1800s.

The man wouldn’t look away, no matter how hard Janus’ glared at him. Soon enough, he was making his way over, and Janus was attempting to stop himself from screaming.

“Hey,” the man said, talking a seat next to Janus, “you have a, uh, interesting soulmark-“

Janus sighed. “If you’re going to be a dick about it, I’d rather you get straight to the point,” he said. “Trust me, I’ve heard it all before. I know I’m a monster and a disgrace. and there’s nothing I can do about it, so-“

“No, that’s-“ The man looked shocked that Janus had even said that, and now was stumbling over his words. “I’m not here to be mean. It’s cool, really-“

“Oh, I see, so you’re trying to lull me into a false sense of security so that when you inevitably do insult me it’ll hurt more,” Janus said.

Somehow, the man’s shocked expression grew. “Jesus Christ, dude, who hurt you?”

Janus frowned. He... really wasn’t understanding this conversation.

“I promise, I’m not here to insult you, I...” He dug through his backpack, taking out some makeup wipes, and wiping some of the foundation of his face. Janus’ eyes widened - scales, completely identical to his own, asides from being purple rather than green. “I have scales too.”

Janus was at a complete loss for words. Did...

Woah. “So you’re...?”

“Maybe,” the man said, hunching in on himself. “I don’t know if I can say for certain, there could be other people with scales, but... it’s a possibility. I-“

“Do you want to get lunch?” Janus offered. He’d never met someone before who understood him, who even showed an ounce of kindness to him, and he wasn’t about to let this opportunity go. Even if this wasn’t his soulmate, it was at least someone who could understand his struggles, someone who could be... a friend.

He nodded. “That would be good. Uh... I’m Virgil.”

“Janus.”

“Is there anywhere-“

“There’s a café I tend to go to a few streets away.”

“That sounds good.”

The two stood up and began to walk out of the park, Janus still just a little in edge, unsure if this was all going to be some sort of sick joke, but... he could almost ignore those anxieties for now. Focus on the fact that he wasn’t alone with his scales. Virgil could understand him, and that was all that mattered.


End file.
